Ravinia 2024 Issue 3

“ I always secretly loved recitals and chamber music. Very few people who sing my repertoire also love chamber music. ” basketball family,” she laughs. “But the radio was always on!” She is quick to highlight that she received her exposure to classical music in the public school system at a time when arts education remained a strong presence there. Not that it stuck immediately; she initially played violin and hated it, and deter- mined she would become a veterinarian. Her musicality was impossible to ignore however, and once Slack began singing in choir, it was obvious that some- thing special was going on. Inspired by the recordings of Jussi Björling, Kirsten Flagstad, and Jessye Norman she heard at school, she began vocal study. Her future was sealed when she attended a performance of Carmen at Philadelphia Opera with Denyce Graves (she admits that to this day she will occa- sionally slip into that same seat at the Academy of Music and reminisce). Slack entered a competition sponsored by the Rosa Ponselle Foundation, hoping to win a couple thousand dollars. She aced it to the tune of fifty grand and studied through the foundation for almost two years. She subsequently landed at the Curtis Institute of Music and was then taken in by the Merola program at San Franciso Opera, followed by an Adler fellowship. In 2006, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller . Despite her success, conversation with Slack reveals her to be a disarmingly warm and down-to-earth woman who examines the dynamics of the music industry with unusual insight. Ravinia sat down with Slack to discuss her career and the creation of African Queens. The Philadelphia-born soprano, a 2008 alumna of the Steans Music Institute at Ravinia, is a familiar presence on operatic stages throughout the United States and abroad, where her luscious, lyrico-spinto instrument has graced the music of Verdi, through Wagner, to Gershwin, Heggie, and beyond. Slack has possibly made her most notable impact, however, in her support of contemporary music. Some among the most promising composers of the day have achieved their first public hearing through her voice. The resourceful diva can also be found online, hosting her live Facebook talk show KikiKonvos. On August 1, Ravinia audiences can experience the latest of Slack’s commissioning projects with the world premiere of African Queens, a program of new vocal compositions from Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson, who have grown together in recent years to become the cre- ative collective “The Blacknificent Seven.” Slack also includes songs from several other leading lights of the contemporary vocal music scene, as well as classic works from Florence Price and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The recital is set for multiple outings across the country on the co-commissioners’ stages and beyond in upcoming seasons—as the lead commissioner of the project, Ravinia enjoys the pride of hosting the pre- miere. Multifaceted pianist Kevin Miller, who grew up a singer before adopting the collaborative instrument, supports Slack throughout. Slack did not come from a musical family. “We were a RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 22 – AUGUST 4, 2024 8 PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEARTIST